Almost ready now for harvest

I'm excited to show to you our  free range chickens that are almost ready now for harvest. These were the first batch of free range chicks that Capt. Ronald Batucan received last April 2011.

Large ranging area and plenty of fresh air. Not to mention the abundant supply of sunshine which really help our chicken develop Vitamin D. This makes authentic free range chickens have higher Vitamin D than their poultry counterpart 

 You can really see the difference in grass thickness between the two sides of the net. You can see how much grass they had eaten in a short span of time.

Our chickens really love to roam and forage in search for insects and grasses. This act gives them exercise in return making them healthy.

 You can really see how clean their ranging area is. It's a combined effort between the sun (which dries their dung leaving the solid material on the ground acting as fertilizers on the ground), the continuous flow of fresh air and our chickens (because of their continuous forage and scratching activities on the ground, they help bury their own waste).

This is an example of how natural farming and nature works!

Large chicken and egg corporation - labelling their product as Free range

It's just a sad truth that large chicken and egg corporations are also labeling their chicken and egg as Free range when in fact it's not. This is happening already in the US, hope it will not happen here. If it does, I'm hoping that this would serve as an eye opener to everyone.

This seems to be unfair for us small local farmers who is sticking to the strict definition of free range farming.

Capt. Ronald Batucan: Latest Grower of Meat-type free range chicken in Cebu

I'm proud to introduce to you our latest grower of free range chicken here in Cebu, Capt. Ronald Batucan  with his wife Marie Fatima. I can really say that both couple are very hardworking and eager to learn the  system on free range chicken farming. They are very keen observers and really follows even the details  in free range farming.

Capt. Batucan is an OFW who is working as a ship captain. He had shared to me that while they were aboard, his co-OFW were talking of venturing in agricultural business. Thanks to this website, I was able to reach them even though they were outside the country. At first his business idea was focused more on growing swines and not on chickens.

When he arrived in Cebu, he called me and we had a meeting  together with his wife last mid-April of this year, and I discussed to them the system about free range chickens. That started his enthusiasm on growing free range chickens. At start, he even planned to have 1000 chickens but I advised him to start with a small volume first until he learns the system and creates a market then gradually increase. During their farm planning, Capt. Batucan and here wife also visited my farm in Naga, Cebu to see the system that I've used.

Last April 20, 2011, I escorted Capt. Batucan and here wife to Mactan Airport to get their first 300 Grimaud Day Old Chicks. Their free range chicken farm is located at Mingalanilla, Cebu. They will also be growing 

At Cebu Pacific, Mactan Airport

Two of this brooding station are used to house their 300 DOCs 

The chick boxes 

Capt. Batucan and his wife Marie Fatima

The cute Grimaud chicks, enjoying their litter floored brooding station

My dinner treat: Free range egg with table salt in vegetable oil

One night, my mom was not able to find a cooked dish in our favorite market in Brgy. Lorega. So to overcome my desire to crave for something to eat, I asked my mom to cook me our newly harvested free range eggs. I asked her to cook it sunny side up, just try to imagine having  sunny side up for dinner.

While my mom was cooking the egg, I was also taking pictures of it in order to temporarily forget hunger :-)

The choosen one

Different shades of our free range eggs

Right after breaking the shell of our free range egg, the first thing that you will notice is the presence of an inside membrane, a translucent sheet that further protects the yolk and the egg white. This is very much different from a standard white egg.

Cooking sunny side up for dinner

Finished product.

Free range egg with table salt in vegetable oil. Yummy :-)

Latest farmer in the province of Dumanjug, Cebu: Mr. Vicente Sanoy

I had my first correspondence with Mr. Sanoy while he was still working in Saudi early this March. When he arrived in the Philippines, I had an opportunity of meeting him in person and discussed matters pertaining to growing free range chickens in Cebu. I shared to him my two years experience in growing free range chickens.

Mr. Sanoy used the space beneath their house as his brooding area. He used indigenous materials to cut down cost. 

Last April 13, 2011, he received his first 100 Inasal type and 50 Layer type Day Old Chicks (DOCs) at the Mactan Airport. Together with him is another farmer, Mr. Jon Kho who also received his first batch of pekin ducklings.

They are an addition to the number of local farmers of free range chickens and pekin ducks that I'm helping in Cebu. In the future, their produce will be supplied in the main stream of Cebu market. This would ensure steady supply of free range chicken and pekin duck meat and no need for others to smuggle from other countries.

Good luck guys and keep up the spirit of natural farming alive.

They just love to eat malunggay

Eating malunggay

In their ranging area

A day after in the ranging area.

Pictures taken a day after their first release to their ranging area.

Farm site selection in Inuburan Naga, Cebu

We did this site selection last October 2010. The site is indeed perfect for free range chicken production: the place is green, unpolluted and full of vegetation.

Now available: Meat & Layer type chickens and Pekin Duck Day Old Chicks (DOC)

The long wait is now over for the small scale farmers to start venturing in free range farming. In tandem with Farmer's Choice, we will now be offering certified First Generation (F1) chicks for Meat & Layer chicken production & Pekin Duck production as well as training in order for the beginners to have a good understanding on the basics of  free range farming before they even start.

Why is it important to get certified F1 Day Old Chicks (DOC)? The answer is simple and that is in order to have a robust and reliable growth and laying performance on your flock.

With Farmer's Choice leadership headed by Dr. Erwin Cruz (awarded as Most Outstanding Veterinarian in Agri-Business for 2011) you can be sure that you will be getting chicks that are of Superior Quality. I had experienced the Superior Quality for almost 2 years now that's why I'm sharing it to others who wanted to start free range farming.

"Lamang Ka Sa Lahi na SUPERIOR!"

For orders, inquiries and training assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me at: 0922-8571383 

Meeting with Doc Erwin Cruz of Farmer's Choice at Waterfront Lahug, Cebu City

Doc Erwin (right side), Engr. Jonathan Oracoy (Left side) & Cristina (at the back)

After almost 2 years of correspondence with Doc Erwin through call, text messages and emails, I had finally meet the guy who taught me the basics of free range chicken farming methodologies. After hearing that Doc Erwin will be coming to Cebu to accept the Most Outstanding Veterinarian award at Waterfront Lahug, I really scheduled an appointment to meet him in person.

Personally, I'm very grateful to Doc Erwin for teaching me a field (free range chicken farming) which is very much distant with my engineering profession. The driving force that I'm in free range farming is for the passion of farming, to help the local farmers and to supply the community with a healthy food source.

I had a very long discussion with Doc Erwin and his wife Cristina and they gave me several additional inputs on current trends on Philippine free range industry together with the latest farming practices from Korea.

In order to help the free range industry in Cebu and provide an alternative source of income to the local farmers in the Visayas region, I and Doc Erwin had agreed that my group will be engaging in disseminating the free range farming concept to the local farmers by providing them with the necessary trainings and act as a marketing arm to provide the farmers with a source of certified F1 Day Old Chicks (DOC) for free range meat & egg production and Pekin Duck production.

For orders and inquiries, you can contact me at 09228571383.